


Requiem

by Kien Rugastelo (cein)



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Episode: s03e21 Requiem For Methuselah, Gen, POV Leonard McCoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 08:19:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14076783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cein/pseuds/Kien%20Rugastelo
Summary: "McCoy knew what Spock had done the instant he spotted the Captain the next morning."A look into how Spock's meld with Kirk at the end of Requiem for Methuselah went undiscovered.





	Requiem

McCoy knew what Spock had done the instant he spotted the Captain the next morning, going about his business cheerfully as if the encounter with Rayna had never happened.

For Kirk, it never had.

He didn’t blame Spock for what he’d done. He saw Kirk in pain, heard Kirk wish to forget her, heard McCoy himself wish Kirk could forget her—the action was only logical. Spock had acted as a healer, as he had done so for Kirk before and would likely do time and time again, and McCoy doubted he would not have done the same if he had been in Spock’s position.

Instead, Spock had taken a page out of McCoy’s own book: treat first and ask forgiveness later, though McCoy doubted that Spock would seek forgiveness. Spock hadn’t manhandled and drugged Kirk into submission, but had instead slipped a memory away quietly, leaving no trace of the deed done. How could one seek forgiveness for an unknown action?

And so, McCoy didn’t go to Spock about it. He didn’t allude to it, and he didn’t goad and tease him about it. Instead, he went to Kirk with a bottle and the excuse of wanting to rehash the mission casually to eek out what Kirk had left of the encounter. Kirk knew what was in his mind, and Spock knew what he had removed, but McCoy had to suss it out lest he wrote a contrary report that would trail breadcrumbs all the way back to Spock.

Somehow, McCoy wasn’t certain that wasn’t exactly what Spock had wanted, but his report was doctored and submitted on time, clearing both Spock and Kirk before being sent away for the fleet’s archives. It would have been impossible for Spock not to have reasoned that McCoy had left details out deliberately.

Spock didn’t come to him, either. They existed in the tacit understanding of an act that undoubtedly violated dozens of regulations, and that would go unacknowledged between them. It was a chain of events that called Spock’s actions, McCoy’s judgment, and Kirk’s ability to command into question, and McCoy would not jeopardize their careers. Kirk could one day remember, or Spock could hang himself like the masochist he was, but McCoy—

McCoy would do no harm.

**Author's Note:**

> This may have a sequel coming that would follow this event to the end of the 5 Year Mission, but I have not committed to that yet.


End file.
